# Simple Ways > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Simple_Ways > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Simple_Ways.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Ways > Source revision: 1333015294 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 13th episode of the 4th season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic "Simple Ways" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode Rarity (left) attempts to get Trenderhoof's (center) attention away from Applejack (right). Episode no. Season 4 Episode 13 Written by Josh Haber Original air date February 8, 2014 (2014-02-08) Running time 22 minutes Episode chronology ← Previous "Pinkie Pride" Next → "Filli Vanilli" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 4 List of episodes "**Simple Ways**" is the thirteenth episode of the [fourth season](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic_season_4) of the [animated television series](/source/Animated_series) *[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)*. The episode was written by Josh Haber. It originally aired on [The Hub](/source/Discovery_Family#As_Hub_Network_(2010–2014)) on February 8, 2014. In this episode, [Rarity](/source/Rarity_(My_Little_Pony)) is elected to host the Ponyville Days festival and becomes smitten with travel writer Trenderhoof, but when he falls for [Applejack](/source/Applejack_(My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)) instead, Rarity attempts to change herself to win his affections.[1] ## Plot External videos Simple Ways (full episode) — Official upload of the episode onto YouTube My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Equestria Toyline Cutie mark Elements of Harmony Pony Spin-offs My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (2013–2020)(List of animations) My Little Pony: Pony Life (2020–2021)(List of episodes) Characters Mane Six Twilight Sparkle Rainbow Dash Pinkie Pie Applejack Fluttershy Rarity Supporting Spike Princess Celestia Princess Luna Princess Cadance Shining Armor Discord Starlight Glimmer Trixie Zecora Antagonists Queen Chrysalis Lord Tirek Cozy Glow Minor Derpy Hooves Background Six Cheese Sandwich Quibble Pants The Wonderbolts Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty Equestria Girls Sunset Shimmer Seasons & episodes Season 1 (2010–2011) "Friendship Is Magic" "The Ticket Master" "Applebuck Season" "Griffon the Brush Off" "Boast Busters" "Dragonshy" "Look Before You Sleep" "Bridle Gossip" "Swarm of the Century" "Winter Wrap Up" "Call of the Cutie" "Fall Weather Friends" "Suited for Success" "Feeling Pinkie Keen" "Sonic Rainboom" "Stare Master" "The Show Stoppers" "A Dog and Pony Show" "Green Isn't Your Color" "Over a Barrel" "A Bird in the Hoof" "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" "Owl's Well That Ends Well" "Party of One" "The Best Night Ever" Season 2 (2011–2012) "The Return of Harmony" "Lesson Zero" "Luna Eclipsed" "Sisterhooves Social" "The Cutie Pox" "May the Best Pet Win!" "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" "Sweet and Elite" "Secret of My Excess" "Hearth's Warming Eve" "Family Appreciation Day" "Baby Cakes" "The Last Roundup" "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" "Read It and Weep" "Hearts and Hooves Day" "A Friend in Deed" "Putting Your Hoof Down" "It's About Time" "Dragon Quest" "Hurricane Fluttershy" "Ponyville Confidential" "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" "A Canterlot Wedding" Season 3 (2012–2013) "The Crystal Empire" "Too Many Pinkie Pies" "One Bad Apple" "Magic Duel" "Sleepless in Ponyville" "Wonderbolts Academy" "Apple Family Reunion" "Spike at Your Service" "Keep Calm and Flutter On" "Just for Sidekicks" "Games Ponies Play" "Magical Mystery Cure" Season 4 (2013–2014) "Princess Twilight Sparkle" "Castle Mane-ia" "Daring Don't" "Flight to the Finish" "Power Ponies" "Bats!" "Rarity Takes Manehattan" "Pinkie Apple Pie" "Rainbow Falls" "Three's a Crowd" "Pinkie Pride" "Simple Ways" "Filli Vanilli" "Twilight Time" "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" "Somepony to Watch Over Me" "Maud Pie" "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" "Leap of Faith" "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" "Trade Ya!" "Inspiration Manifestation" "Equestria Games" "Twilight's Kingdom" Season 5 (2015) "The Cutie Map" "Castle Sweet Castle" "Tanks for the Memories" "Slice of Life" "Amending Fences" "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" "Made in Manehattan" "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" "The Hooffields and McColts" "The Cutie Re-Mark" Season 6 (2016) "A Hearth's Warming Tail" "The Times They Are a Changeling" Season 7 (2017) "The Perfect Pear" Season 8 (2018) "Grannies Gone Wild" Season 9 (2019) "The Last Crusade" Series finale Media Films & specials My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever (2018) My Little Pony: Rainbow Roadtrip (2019) Music Theme song "This Day Aria" Movie Soundtrack "Rainbow" "Off to See the World" Games My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day Gameloft video game Collectible card game Other media Home video releases IDW comics Issues My Little Pony/Transformers Brony fandom Fan works (list) 15.ai Voiceverse NFT plagiarism scandal A Brony Tale Bronies (documentary) Derpibooru Equestria Daily Fimfiction Fallout: Equestria Friendship Is Witchcraft Legends of Equestria Love & Ponystep Ponysona PONY.MOV Them's Fightin' Herds Fandom people 15 hotdiggedydemon Jenny Nicholson Odyssey Eurobeat Sethisto The Living Tombstone Vylet Pony Fan culture Analysis Brony music Bronyspeak Charity Criticism Fan art Clop Ponysona Fan fiction Military bronies /mlp/ Online communities My Little Pony conventions BABSCon BronyCAN BronyCon Czequestria Everfree Northwest GalaCon Ponyville Ciderfest RuBronyCon TrotCon UK PonyCon Vanhoover Pony Expo v t e [Rarity](/source/Rarity_(My_Little_Pony)) wins the honor of serving as pony of ceremonies for the upcoming Ponyville Days festival and presents plans including a cider auction, town square gala, and fashion show. Her primary motivation involves impressing the famous travel writer Trenderhoof, whom she has admired from afar. When Trenderhoof arrives at the train station, Rarity becomes so nervous that she hides under [Twilight](/source/Twilight_Sparkle)'s tail and faints upon their introduction. Rarity proudly tours Trenderhoof around Ponyville to showcase her festival venues, but she becomes dismayed when he becomes instantly smitten with [Applejack](/source/Applejack_(My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)) at Sweet Apple Acres. Trenderhoof declares the farm pony "the pony of his dreams" and begins following her around town, much to Applejack's growing discomfort. Despite Rarity's attempts to capture his attention, Trenderhoof remains fixated on Applejack's country lifestyle. Convinced that Applejack has deliberately stolen Trenderhoof's affections, Rarity abandons her sophisticated persona and adopts a country accent while completely redesigning the festival around a "Simple Ways" farm theme. She wears [overalls](/source/Overalls) and a [straw hat](/source/Straw_hat) and praises the virtues of hard work and [rural life](/source/Rural_life). Applejack grows increasingly annoyed by both Trenderhoof's unwanted attention and Rarity's accusations that she's intentionally competing for his affections. Applejack appears at Sweet Apple Acres dressed as "Apple Jewel" in an elaborate gown, attempting to beat Rarity at her own game by embracing high fashion and refined culture. The two friends engage in an absurd competition where Rarity praises [mud](/source/Mud) and [split ends](/source/Split_ends) while Applejack extols polished hooves and [rosebuds](/source/Rose), until Rarity accidentally splashes mud on Applejack's dress and snaps back to reality. She apologizes for her behavior and thanks Applejack for helping her realize how ridiculous she's been acting. Trenderhoof appears in farm clothes announcing his plan to abandon travel writing and become a farmer, and Rarity advises him against changing himself so drastically just to impress someone else. The festival proceeds with Rarity's original "small town chic" theme and proves highly successful. Trenderhoof dances with Granny Smith and gives Rarity a rose during the fashion show. ## Reception Sherilyn Connelly, the author of *Ponyville Confidential*, gave the episode an "A-" rating.[2] In a critical analysis of the episode, author Jen A. Blue initially expressed hatred for [love triangles](/source/Love_triangle) but argued that "Simple Ways" subverts the typical format because "this love triangle isn't about Applejack and Rarity competing for his affections" but rather about Rarity choosing between pursuing Trenderhoof and maintaining her friendship with Applejack. Blue interpreted the episode as acknowledging that the real pairing is Rarity–Applejack, noting this is as close as the show would get to acknowledging [homosexuality](/source/Homosexuality) and remarked that "Rarijack is now the next best thing to canon." Blue criticized the concept of crushes as shallow fantasies based on limited information, arguing that neither Rarity nor Trenderhoof is interested in actually getting to know the object of their infatuation, and concluded that the episode delivers a message to fans that "you cannot love someone you do not know" since genuine caring requires a reciprocating relationship rather than fantasy-based infatuation.[3] Raymond Gallant of *Freakin' Awesome Network* gave the episode a rating of 9 out of 10 and called it "a fun episode" and "one of the best of season 4." He praised [Tabitha St. Germain](/source/Tabitha_St._Germain)'s vocal performance as Rarity and noted that Applejack was in top form, though he criticized Trenderhoof as unremarkable and forgettable compared to other ponies Rarity had shown affection for.[4] Sofie Liv of *The Agony Booth* gave the episode a rating of 2 out of 5 ponies and called it "nice, but didn't stand out as anything special and doesn't really have any lasting impact." She described the episode as average for the show and noted that while the message was good, the story felt old and had been done many times before, making it "kind of dull" and below average for the series.[5] Daniel Alvarez of *Unleash The Fanboy* gave the episode a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and called it "a relatively weak episode but was saved by Tabitha St. Germain's incredible voice acting" and praised Applejack using Rarity's trick against her. Alvarez noted that while the first half was the weakest of the season, the final part made it rise above and described it as the weakest Rarity episode yet, though still a fun watch.[6] Jamie Kingston of *[WomenWriteAboutComics](/source/WomenWriteAboutComics)* praised the episode's lesson of "being yourself and not trying to change yourself to suit another".[7] Johnnie Jungleguts of *[Yahoo! Entertainment](/source/Yahoo!_Entertainment)* ranked "Simple Ways" the ninth best episode of *My Little Pony*, describing how hipster photojournalist Trenderhoof comes to town and chic unicorn Rarity becomes "desperate to impress" him, only to discover he prefers Applejack's rustic farm-pony aesthetic over Rarity's high-end style. Jungleguts noted that Rarity responds by adopting "bumpkin stereotypes, donning frayed overalls and a laughable Southern accent," and praised the episode as "acute" for reflecting "on authenticity in a pony world that can be just as image-conscious as our own."[8] ## See also - [List of *My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic* episodes](/source/List_of_My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic_episodes) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Busis, Hillary (2014-02-07). ["'My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic': It's... a pony love triangle?!"](https://ew.com/article/2014/02/07/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-its-a-pony-love-triangle-exclusive/). *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*. Retrieved 2025-07-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Connelly (2017)](#CITEREFConnelly2017), p. 81 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Blue, Jen A. (2021-12-27). "I don't even know what I'm supposed to wallow in! (Simple Ways)". *My Little Po-Mo: Unauthorized Critical Essays on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season Four and Beyond*. pp. 109–113. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Gallant, Raymond (2014-02-09). ["My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 4, Episode 13 Review"](https://web.archive.org/web/20171005151456/http://www.freakinawesomenetwork.net/2014/02/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-4-episode-13-review/). *Freakin' Awesome Network*. Archived from [the original](http://www.freakinawesomenetwork.net/2014/02/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-4-episode-13-review/) on 2017-10-05. Retrieved 2025-07-03. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Liv, Sofie (2014-02-14). ["My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "Simple Ways""](https://web.archive.org/web/20200923140205/https://www.agonybooth.com/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-simple-ways-s04e13-20143). *The Agony Booth*. Archived from [the original](https://www.agonybooth.com/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-simple-ways-s04e13-20143) on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2025-06-30. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Alvarez, Daniel (2014-02-09). ["My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Simple Ways' Review"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200428163359/http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/news/little-pony-friendship-magic-simple-ways-review). *Unleash The Fanboy*. Archived from [the original](http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/news/little-pony-friendship-magic-simple-ways-review) on 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2025-07-03. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Kingston, Jamie (2014-07-07). ["Throwing Popcorn: My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic"](https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2014/07/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/). *[WomenWriteAboutComics](/source/WomenWriteAboutComics)*. Retrieved 2025-07-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Jungleguts, Johnnie (2017-10-07). ["Top 10 'My Little Pony' Episodes, Ranked (Photos)"](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/top-ten-little-pony-episodes-ranked-photos-212741277.html). *[Yahoo! Entertainment](/source/Yahoo!_Entertainment)*. Retrieved 2025-07-07. ### Bibliography - Connelly, Sherilyn (2017-04-01). [*Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981-2016*](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ponyville_Confidential/E3VPDgAAQBAJ). McFarland. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4766-6209-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4766-6209-1). ## External links - ["Simple Ways"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3099900/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Season 4 "Princess Twilight Sparkle" "Castle Mane-ia" "Daring Don't" "Flight to the Finish" "Power Ponies" "Bats!" "Rarity Takes Manehattan" "Pinkie Apple Pie" "Rainbow Falls" "Three's a Crowd" "Pinkie Pride" "Simple Ways" "Filli Vanilli" "Twilight Time" "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" "Somepony to Watch Over Me" "Maud Pie" "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" "Leap of Faith" "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" "Trade Ya!" "Inspiration Manifestation" "Equestria Games" "Twilight's Kingdom" --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Simple Ways](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Ways) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Ways?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.